Kismet
by Elicia1
Summary: Two doctors in Darfur discuss events in Chicago Luby implied. Up to 12.15 plus a slight spoiler for future episodes


Disclaimer: you know the drill, I own nothing, I just borrow from WB and NBC

**Kismet**

The trip had been exhausting. With a sigh Greg Pratt contemplated the red sand and the endless horizon. He would be here for at least one month and was ready to give his very best. This change from his routine at the County was exactly what he needed. Luka had been right; this place would help him deal with his past mistakes and take a new view on life itself. After another turn, he suddenly saw a huge field of white tents. There he was. With a smile he contemplated the running and cheering children. They drove past the camp and reached a small house. Next to the entrance, he noticed a man he hadn't seen for a while. John Carter was waiting for him; he looked tired but visibly pleased to see a known face.

-"Greg! Nice to see you! Hope the journey hasn't been too tough on you!"

-"Yeah man, nice to see you too! I swallowed at least a ton of sand, but don't worry, I'll survive!"

-"Let me show you where you will sleep. You can freshen up and then you have to tell me everything that happened since I left! Don't think I'll let you sleep before you've spitted it all out!"

Greg laughed and followed him inside.

A long while later they sat sipping a soda in the hot night.

-"So tell me, how is life back at County? Is Morris still a pain?"

-"Why would he change? Morris is Morris. But what's that ring? You got married?" Carter nodded with a smile "To Kem?"

-"Yes, she finally accepted to have me. She is in Paris currently, but that's another story. So Chicago? Is everyone well?" Carter was reluctant to discuss this particular matter just now.

-"Yeah everyone is doing okay and is sending you their best wishes. I guess you haven't been in contact with many of them."

-"No, I meant to, but you know how it is. I talked to Luka when I asked him to help me here. He told me he couldn't leave Chicago, being the new ER chief and all..."

-"That's what he told you?" Pratt sounded thoughtful.

-"Yeah…"

-" 'And all' meant?"

-"I'm actually not sure!" Carter laughed. "I think he realized that he didn't want to come back to Africa, he almost got killed last time. I guess that he is happy about his current life, enjoys family life and doesn't feel the urge to help me out in this burning hell. I can't blame him for that."

-"No, sure not…" So Kovac hadn't said a thing about him and Abby. He chuckled at the thought. That would be one interesting piece of information to share. Better keep it for the end.

-"Greg, you're one annoying guy! Come on, share!"

-"So let's start with Susan. She left Chicago for a tenured position, not sure where. Haven't heard of her since." Carter nodded. "You knew that?"

-"No, but I'm not surprised. She wasn't very happy when I last talked to her. I knew she wanted something less stressful."

-"Then Neela. She got married to Michael…"

-"Really! They got married? Good for them! I guess Michael is back from Iraq then?"

-"Well he came back, but decided he needed to go back. She hasn't taken it very well. But that's understandable."

-"Wow, that must be tough. It's one dangerous place to be. I hope he'll make it home soon."

-"Yeah me too! Neela works twice as hard now and has been chosen for the surgical elective. She seems to enjoy it and Dubenko thinks highly of her. It seems you can't be lucky in love and work. Then we have a new doctor, called Victor Clemente. I'm not sure he'll stay long. I wondered if he hadn't been brought in after Susan left to become the new ER Chief. Then Luka decided that he wanted the job and Vic has had… Let's talk about people you actually know. It will be more fun."

-"Yeah, let's concentrate on them!" Carter cheerfully confirmed.

-"Not much to say about Morris! The more things change and the more he stays the same. Ray had a tough year but he has finally decided that he wanted to become a full-time doctor. He has matured a lot, I think he'll make a very good doctor. There haven't been much durable changes with the staff. For a short while we had a new nurse manager, she sacked Haleh, but at the end Sam brought her back and has since then basically taken over this position."

-"Well done! I see the managing team at ER is doing a good job! They are both very efficient, I really like them. Good for them!" Greg looked at the smiling John. He definitely didn't know about the changes in Luka's life. Well that would be one hell of a shock. Feeling a little uneasy, Pratt laughed to bolster up his courage. Well he had talked about everyone except Abby. He felt Carter's expectant look on him.

-"And Abby…" He hesitated. How could he say that the best way possible? Sure John was married but she had held a big place in his life.

-"Yes Abby? Is there something?"

-"Well Abby is… pregnant." Carter looked completely speechless and Greg regretted not having taken his camera. That would have been a priceless picture.

-"Preg..nant?" This word in his mouth was comical.

-"Yeah." Greg nodded, trying desperately to hide his smile. "Pregnant!"

-"Pregnant? Abby is having a baby?"

-"Well, that's usually what happens when you are pregnant." Maybe he should have taped it. The guys back at County would have loved to hear that. He looked at Carter who still seemed to have problems to process the information. Man, telling him who the daddy was, most certainly would give him a heart attack.

-"How far along is she?"

-"Almost seven months, the baby is due in July."

-"Wow! I had no clue! Wow, July? That soon? She sure didn't lose time."

-"Yeah that's what everybody said back at County. They sure were quick." Greg chuckled remembering their astounded looks when they had found when exactly Abby was due. It was one thing to have noticed that Kovac and Abby were past the friendship level, but this news even left Frank speechless.

-"And she is happy about that? I mean…" John wondered, what he did mean with this pretense of a sentence. There was the one thing he would never have imagined, Abby pregnant! She had finally found someone with whom she was ready to commit. What a huge step forward for her. Abby and a baby, wow!

-"She sure looks happy." Greg looked at Carter, wondering if he should go on with the missing information. Maybe it would be better to wait at least a day or two, once the shock would have worn off. Yeah he thought, that probably would be safer.

-"I didn't think that her relationship with Jake was that serious." Okay now he had to talk. Damn! That would have been too much to hope…

-"Well it's not Jake's. They broke up, don't ask me when but I'd guess some time during the summer…" Carter looked even more stunned. Not Jake, so it meant that a new guy came in her life, swept her off her feet, got her pregnant right away and made her totally happy? After all the things he had gone through with her, it seemed almost wrong. Sure he was now with Kem, but that Abby had managed to find blissful happiness in such a short time, when he was still struggling to make things work with his wife was… yes, it was unfair!

-"Wow, not Jake!" He finally muttered after a while. He turned to Greg and wondered how long this torture would last.

-"No, not Jake!" Greg confirmed.

-"So, some new guy?"

-"No, no new guy…"

-"Someone I know?"

-"Oh yeah, someone you know…" That was fun. Again Greg cursed himself for not having taken anything to record that little exchange. That would have been worth a few hundreds back home!

-"A doctor?"

-"Yeah, a doctor."

-"I know… well I think I do: Dubenko. We talked about Abby once and he seemed very interested in her. Never thought he would have the guts to actually ask her out." Greg shook his head.

-"Well, not Dubenko!"

-"Wow, not Dubenko!"

-"No, not Dubenko!" This conversation was getting funny. Greg wondered how many doctors Carter would name before adding one and one.

-"And I know him?"

-"Yeah, you know him."

-"But do I know him well or just fleetingly?"

-"You know him well."

-"But not a doctor in ER?"

-"No…"

-"A doctor in OR?"

-"No, I meant no to not a doctor in ER!"

-"What? I'm confused now." Greg laughed thinking John was way beyond confused.

-"I meant yes, a doctor in ER!"

-"Then the new doctor. But you told me, I knew him."

-"Of course you know him."

-"But I don't know this Clemente." Carter became defensive.

-"I mean you know the baby's father, not Clemente."

-"So Clemente is not Abby's boyfriend. Or is she married?"

-"No and no, Abby is not married."

-"Morris?"

-"What Morris?

-"Morris and Abby!" Carter was getting impatient. This conversation seemed to take place in the Twilight Zone.

-"Morris and Abby? Come on, man, be serious! He wouldn't even touch first base with her!" That little sally brought a faint smile on Carter's serious face.

-"True. Ray?"

-"Ray is way too childish for Abby." Carter's eyes narrowed on Greg.

-"You? You're with Abby?"

-"Me? No, of course not. Me and Abby? It's ridiculous."

-"But there is no other doctor in ER!"

-"Oh yes, there is."

-"But who?"

-"Maybe someone who couldn't leave Chicago, being the new ER chief and all…" Carter's jaw hit the ground. Greg couldn't help bursting out laughing. John tried hard to say something but his first attempts led him nowhere.

-"But Luka is with Sam. You told me they were managing the ER."

-"Man, I never told you that. I said that Sam was acting as new nurse manager."

-"When did they split up?"

-"Last summer, end of July or beginning of August. I'm not really sure. I was on vacation when it happened."

-"And Abby is already seven months pregnant? What did he do, seduce her and knock her up right away?"

-"Yeah, maybe it was 'first time lucky'!" Pratt laughed but quickly stopped, when he saw Carter's condemning look.

-"Why didn't Luka tell me a thing?"

-"I have no clue."

-"When I asked him how life was and if he still enjoyed playing daddy, he just laughed and said life was great. Son-a-of-a… Are they living together?"

-"I think so, but there is nothing official." Greg looked anxiously at Carter, he seemed completely lost. Uneasy he looked around at the house, trying to relax his sore muscles. Suddenly he heard laughers.

-"I guess that explains why I couldn't reach Abby at her place when I tried to call her."

-"It probably does."

-"So Luka and Abby are back together?"

-"They sure are."

-"The rumor mill has probably gone wild for a while!"

-"It sure has. Chuny and Haleh were spying them out and Jerry and Frank were keeping tracks of every suspicious behavior. They were pretty discreet but by Christmas, everyone knew. You wouldn't recognize Luka, it's like an alien has taken him over. And Abby, except for the hormones at times, is all smiles."

-"So they're happy…"

-"Yeah, they sure look that way."

-"I guess that's what people here call kismet."

-"Kismet?"

-"Fate, destiny… that when two people are meant to be together, that whatever happens or whoever tries to part them, they'll always find each other again." Carter looked thoughtfully at his bottle of soda. Did he have that with Kem? Leaving those gloomy thoughts behind, he raised his bottle.

-"Let's drink to that! That we all find our intended one and end up happy for all eternity. To kismet!"

-"To kismet!" Greg took a big gulp of beverage at Carter's toast.

-"He's lucky…"

-"Hmm, yeah…"

-"Lucky that he is at least 3 inches taller than me, this Croatian son-of-…"

At that they both laughed and looked still chuckling at the stars shining above them.


End file.
